TENNIS NEWS - From Maria Sharapova helping design her latest little black dress to Alexander Zverev being reluctant to pull down his tube socks, US Open fashion statements are drawing plenty of attention.
It's a battle of clothing manufacturers Nike and Adidas with world-class action models displaying their style on the court and purchasers, not points, deciding the big apparel winners and losers.
Former world No 1 Sharapova made a triumphant Grand Slam return after a 15-month doping ban by downing second-ranked Simona Halep and will next face Hungary's Timea Babos in the second round on Wednesday.
"Behind this little black dress and the Swarovski crystals, there is a girl with a lot of grit and she's not going anywhere," Sharapova vowed to the crowd after Monday's victory.
The sequin-spangled onyx frock with the Nike swoosh came from Sharapova's work with Italian fashion designer Riccardo Tisci.
"I got to personally meet Riccardo," she said. "It was an incredible experience because just me and him sitting at my dining room table at my house just talking inspiration, lace. He was still working at Givenchy at the time.
"I'm very grateful for all the collaborations I've been a part of with Nike. This one I think is really special."
Vogue magazine reported the dress is priced at $500 with a matching jacket selling for $700.
"It was always going to be black. It wasn't even a question of what we were going to do for the night matches," Sharapova told Vogue, citing the color she wore when she won the 2006 US Open crown, one of her five career Grand Slam titles.
"It was very special to design an outfit for an athlete playing on the courts," Tisci told Vogue. "That moment she had in 2006 was a very iconic moment and we wanted to honour it and be inspired by it.
"We decided to use lace and crystal, which are very me, and black, which is my favourite color and very representative of my career but also the color that has brought a lot of luck for her. So when we started talking about this project, it just made sense."
